The irony isn’t lost on Mike Blair. For years, he fielded questions about a
possible move from scrum-half to fly-half, dismissing the suggestion that he
could make the switch between the two positions. The roles were much too
specialised, he'd say. It was never going to happen.

But then it did. Only it wasn’t Blair who made the change, but Greig Laidlaw, his Edinburgh team-mate. Less than a year ago, the two players were rivals for the capital side’s No 9 shirt; these days, but following Laidlaw’s move to the playmaker berth at the tail end of last season they are now forging an increasingly impressive partnership, one that will be tested from the start at international level for the first time this weekend.

Granted, Scotland coach Andy Robinson has changed his half-back combination nine times in as many matches, but at least there is an established understanding between Blair and Laidlaw. As both can also change positions on the hoof, they may bring the speed and dynamism Robinson has demanded in a gameplan designed to run France off their feet.

It worked in Edinburgh’s two Heineken Cup wins against Racing Metro, when the Parisian side were blowing hard in the final stages of the games. “Spreading the ball wide didn’t come off instantly,” Blair recalled. “But it fatigued them. Coming into the last quarter of both games they were really struggling.

“I think the make-up of the Racing side and the French side is similar in that they both have a big front five. You need to move them around. But they’ve got a lot of quality behind the scrum as well, so you can’t afford to be too loose.”

Robinson has generally preferred Chris Cusiter ahead of Blair. All but five of the 19 caps won by Blair – who has 77 caps in total – during Robinson’s time in charge were earned off the bench, and the coach has made it clear that, but for a recent dip in form, Cusiter is still his No 1 scrum-half.

Hardly the most ringing endorsement a player has ever had, but the thoughtful Blair has taken it in his stride. “I think there’s a slightly different balance to the way we play the game,” said Blair. “We both bring different things to the party and I’m happy to get the call this time.

“You’ve got to back your own ability and you have to be aware that anything could happen, Chris could have been injured in the first minute of the England game, and then that suddenly opens things up for myself. Equally, I’ve now got the opportunity to show what I can do.”

And bring his experience to bear? Blair is one of just two survivors from the Scotland team which beat France at Murrayfield in 2006, the only Scottish victory over the French this century. The other is Sean Lamont, who scored two tries in that 20-16 win six years ago.

Blair, though, is dismissive of the suggestion that anything can be taken from that game, saying much has changed in the intervening time. “France have really progressed,” he said. “They were World Cup finalists. It sometimes gets forgotten that they’re technically the second-best team in the world.”

In actual fact, France sit third in the current official world rankings, but that is still eight places higher than Scotland, who have recently slipped to 11th, behind both Samoa and Tonga. Were Scotland to lose to France this weekend, and were Italy beat Ireland, the Scots would drop to 12th, their lowest-ever ranking.